some good points
Submitted by F.O.D. on December 24 1999 at 00:30:10
In reply to An alternative reading Submitted by Dirk Gently on December 22 1999 at 01:08:51
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Thanks Dirk, you brought up some good points there. That's an important point about the possibility of David poetically exaggerating the meaning of his love towards Jonathan in his lament for him. Still, in defense of my hypothesis I can point out that in his lament David praises Saul for his relationship to Israel (eg v24), rather than with David himself, while with regards to Jonathan he praises their own personal love. Of course, a most glaring omission in my analysis (post-Jonathan, true), is David and Bethsheba. You could hardly get a more heterosexual relationship than that. Though you might say it proves nothing more than David's red-blooded bisexuality. Your reading of the Michal affair as politics sounds reasonable (and certainly it was from Saul's point of view, v25). I assumed there was true affection from David's side since he harvested 200 foreskins rather than the appointed 100. But I suppose you could argue this was a political act rather than a romantic one. I'll close my affirming your other comment: yes, love without sex is something worth thinking much more about. Merry Christmas :) F.O.D. |